Ulrike Bahr-Gedalia believes Nova Scotian high school students heading back to class should seriously consider preparing for careers in one of the province’s few growing industries.

“Nova Scotia will need to fill 3,242 new Information and Communications Technology (ICT) positions by 2019,” says Bahr-Gedalia, president and CEO of Digital Nova Scotia.

“ICT employment in Nova Scotia increased by 13 per cent while overall employment declined by one per cent over the past 12 months. For youth looking for exciting career opportunities, our sector is in growth mode and, from that perspective alone, a great reason for students to study coding.”

Digital Nova Scotia represents the province’s ICT industry and has held a number of events to promote ICT careers to young people, such as a Digital Discovery Camp for youths aged 9-14.

“Approximately 8,530 Nova Scotians work directly in ICT, while 8,800 work in non-ICT sectors, bringing the total number to 17,330 ICT professionals,” says Bahr-Gedalia. “These numbers reflect the importance of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) education and the significant demand for ICT talent. Our sector impacts and embeds nearly every other industry”.

The high demand for ICT specialists is also a national trend.

According to the Information and Communications Technology Council, Canada will need to fill as many as 182,000 high-paying tech jobs by 2019.

“Providing a base foundation of coding knowledge should be mandatory curriculum if we want our future workforce to be prepared to compete for globally in-demand jobs,” says Bahr-Gedalia .

“Our sector requires a strong and diverse pipeline of talent to grow. We will foster the growth of a diverse workforce by providing youth with equal and affordable access to STEAM education and encouraging underrepresented demographics, like girls, to consider careers in ICT. This is essential for increased productivity and innovation.”

Digital technology education needs to start early

The 2014 Ivany Report calls on Nova Scotia to reduce youth unemployment and increase the percentage of Nova Scotians obtaining training after high school. Public figures such as Will.I.Am and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are also calling for more computer science education in schools, while certain states and provinces such as New Brunswick are considering making a computer coding course mandatory in the high school curriculum.

“The world is increasingly data-driven, so we need people in all disciplines and in all sectors who are at least data literate, ready to work with data,” says Mike Smit, professor at Dalhousie University’s School of Information Management.

“That's why we’re launching a new Living and Working with Data course that will be open to any interested undergraduate student. We know from our research that first-year university is the best time to teach data literacy in post-secondary education, which suggests data training should be starting even earlier.”

Statistics Canada information shows that the services sector is the largest source of employment in Nova Scotia — and it’s growing.

“At the high school level, in addition to mandatory credits in math and sciences, students are currently required to take two additional courses within mathematics; sciences; skilled trades; technology education; technology integration, and information and communication technology categories in order to fulfil the graduation requirements,” says Heather Fairbairn, media relations advisor for the Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.

Fairbairn says the province will continue to implement computer science into the school curriculum.

“Nova Scotia’s Education Action Plan is focused on modernizing our education system to help students transition smoothly into the workforce and post-secondary education, while preparing them for a lifetime of learning and options for the future,” says Fairbairn.

“As part of the plan, in November 2015, the minister announced the province would implement a Primary-Grade 12 coding strategy. Coding is now part of the revised curriculum in Primary-Grade 6, providing students in these grade levels with hands-on activities to learn more about coding.

“This year, students in Grades 7-12 will have enhanced learning opportunities for coding through events like the Hour of Code, STEAM Olympics and the introduction of Extended Mathematics 11 in selected schools across the province. Coding will be further expanded as the curriculum for Grades 7-12 is renewed and, by 2020, high school students will be required to have three mathematics courses in order to graduate.”